I lost track of how long I steeped this, having a three year old and a five month old can do that to a person. You turn around and suddenly it’s later than you thought and you’ve got to leave NOW but the kids still aren’t ready and neither are you and – and – well, that’s another story. Anyway, steeping time was somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes.

The dry leaf definitely smelled winey and…chocolate? I think that was just due to the other tea it was shipped with though. The smell of the steeped liquor reminded me of an old country or antique shop redolent with potpourri. It was dark amber in color, lovely and clear.

Even without sugar I could taste the wine note. With sugar it was more pronounced and smoother though I think it might have been a bit thin (will definitely try with more leaf next time). After swallowing there was a slight dryness in my mouth, nearly imperceptible until I breathed in.

I tried my second cup with honey and nearly poured the stuff down the drain. Do NOT drink this with honey! Ick! I am curious as to what it would taste like with agave nectar though, too bad I haven’t been able to find any more in the area since I finished the last bottle.

My last cup full ended up cooling due to having to deal with fussy kids and it actually tasted better lukewarm than hot which makes me wonder how it would work as an iced tea.

Overall a very nice blend.

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I prefer loose-leaf teas but I do like to keep some tea bags around for travel. I prefer black teas (especially Yunnans), dark oolongs, and pu’erh. My #1 favorite is Jasmine Golden Yunnan from thepuriTea.com.